Shepherdswell

Shepherdswell

St Andrew's Church, Shepherdswell
Shepherdswell
 Shepherdswell shown within Kent
OS grid referenceTR259480
DistrictDover
Shire countyKent
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Dover
Postcode district CT15
Dialling code 01304
Police Kent
Fire Kent
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentDover
List of places
UK
England
Kent

Coordinates: 51°11′12″N 1°13′52″E / 51.1866°N 1.2312°E

Shepherdswell (also Sibertswold) is a village in Kent, England, UK. It is notable for the East Kent Railway, whose terminus is sited there. This was originally one of Colonel Stephens's lines and ran to Wingham. The section as far as Eythorne is now run by a preservation society. It has a mainline railway station named Shepherds Well with direct trains to Dover and London via Faversham. The village social life centres on the local Grade I listed church 'Church of St Andrew',[1] and the village hall, which is host to a number of events including regular charity jumble sales and a pre-school playgroup.

Currently the village has a thriving "pub" scene with two very different establishments. The Grade II listed Bell by the village green,[2] near to the church and the (also grade II listed) Bricklayers Arms along Eythorne Road.[3] Part of the Shepherd Neame Brewery franchise. Additionally the village has a mini-supermarket and Post Office.

The town is also on the Miner's Way Trail. The trail links up the coalfield parishes of East Kent.[4] In the town it also links with the North Downs Way, which also passes through the town between Whitfield and Woolage Village.

Sport

Shepherdswell is also home the "Shepherdswell Spartans Football Club". Football has been played in the village of Shepherdswell for at least 98 years. Originally the team was called Shepherdswell FC and played from about 1908 until 1965; the name of the next major club in the village was the Whitehall Spartans, who played for most of the 1970s; they would become responsible for the name of today's current team. In 1983–84, a team managed by Jim Osborne was formed again and named after their then sponsors A1 Taxis which entered the Dover District Sunday League. By the start of the next season their name had reverted to something more recognisable as the main team in the village – Shepherdswell Spartans was born. They took the name Spartans from the local pub The Whitehall Inn which was their social base until the pub was shut down in 1989. Today the team is still going strong and has their social base as The Bricklayers Arms where they can be found on a Sunday afternoon either toasting their victories or drowning their sorrows in defeat.[5]

As well as a Sunday League football team, Shepherdswell is home to a cricket team known simply as "Shepherdswell C.C." The team plays "friendly" village fixtures from May to September each year against other teams from all over the county of Kent.

Both the football and cricket teams can be seen playing on the picturesque Shepherdswell Recreation Ground ("The Rec'") and during the months of August and September sports fans will be able to watch football in the morning (10:30 am kick-off) followed by cricket in the afternoon (13:30 pm start).

References

  1. ↑ "Church of St Pancras, Shepherdswell with Coldred". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Bell Inn, Shepherdswell with Coldred". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "The Bricklayers' Arms, Shepherdswell with Coldred". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "The History of the Coalfield Parishes". www.dover.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  5. ↑ SOURCE: www.shepherdswellspartansfc.co.uk

External links

Media related to Shepherdswell at Wikimedia Commons